Hailing from Nallasopara town in the Palghar district of Maharashtra, Yadav Suryabhan Acchhelal belongs to a family of academically brilliant people, all working in government service. With his dedication and perseverance, Suryabhan was also able to live up to his family tradition and their expectation, as he secured AIR 27 in UPSC CSE 2022, the results of which were announced last month.
Indian Masterminds spoke exclusively with him to know more about his interesting journey.
UNAWARE ABOUT UPSC
Interestingly, till 2015, Suryabhan was completely unaware of the concept of the UPSC Civil Services Examination. He had no notion that the government conducts such an examination, which lays the path for future bureaucrats.
It was during his time at IIT-BHU in 2015 when he noticed classmates and peers attending coaching that piqued his curiosity. He inquired about the exam from his peers, and after realising the impact of UPSC CSE and how he could utilise his abilities to touch people’s lives on a large scale, he decided to give it a try.
“I took coaching for a brief time to gain a sense of how to prepare and what happens in the exam. I read some general affairs, but I couldn’t really understand it and couldn’t relate to it at that time,” he shared with Indian Masterminds.
FIFTH ATTEMPT
Finally, in 2017, he decided to appear for the civil services exam and began preparing for it. He continued to take the exams every year beginning in 2018 but was unable to obtain IAS in his first four attempts. He passed the examination in 2020 and received AIR-488, but his desire to become an IAS officer prompted him to keep trying.
He took the Indian Forest Service Examination in 2019 and 2020 and received AIR-57 in 2020. Because he now had two options, he chose IRS over IFS. He is currently on probation and is stationed in Faridabad.
Suryabhan chose Mathematics as his optional since he believed he comprehended 70% of the syllabus from his college studies. It was also his favourite topic since school, and he felt pretty comfortable with it.
RECTIFYING HIS MISTAKES
He kept identifying and correcting his flaws after each failure. He realised he wasn’t paying enough attention to his GS papers, so this year, he focused more on them, which proved to be beneficial for him, as he was finally able to fulfil his dream after four years of struggle.
Now that Suryabhan is on his way to becoming an IAS officer, he promises to work his best in whichever field he is posted in. He doesn’t have any specific area of concern that he wants to work on and will gladly accept whatever the government brings his way.
STAY GROUNDED
He also has a beautiful message for the aspirants who were not able to clear the exam this year: “Life is much more than Civil Services. CS is just a part of it. Out of 1.3 billion, more than 1.29 billion people are living their life happily and healthily, despite not being a part of CS. Let’s be humble and polite to everyone. We should stay grounded and make our family proud.”
